This campaign, the Blue Jays season had stolen a page from U.S. President Barack Obama’s playbook — it was all about hope and change.

Upon the not-so-startling news that free agent right-hander Ervin Santana decided to sign on with the Atlanta Braves, hope flew out the door.

Would Santana have nailed down a post-season berth?

No, but he would have helped.

Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays general manager, will get whipped in the court of public opinion for this fumble along with the boys running Rogers who decided to sit on their wallets this off-season after last year’s big payroll bump landed the team in last place.

Spending their way out of the basement was not an option for the suits and the way that Anthopoulos explained it Wednesday morning, neither was Santana’s plan to sign on with an American League team, specifically one that resides in the AL East such as the Jays and Baltimore, another team which was rebuffed.

If that was Santana’s plan all along then either he or his representatives must be Kreskin-like as it wasn’t until the Atlanta Braves suffered injuries to two of their starters this week — Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy — that they entered the picture.

In the end, Santana agreed to a one-year contract worth $14.1 million, which was more than the reported offer from Baltimore and about the same as the Jays.

Anthopoulos, the jilted GM who was left at the altar, spent the majority of his time with the media praising their questions and then taking the Fifth and declining to respond.

In taking the high road, Anthopoulos said he was respecting the process and all parties involved but at the same time he wasn’t really respecting the media by being so evasive.

But he appeared to be a little steamed by the developments.

“Probably don’t want to comment on how close I felt we got or didn’t get,” he said of losing out on Santana. “I think what I’ll say is from what I was told he wanted to pitch in the NL. Couldn’t compete with it. It wasn’t money. It wasn’t years. He had a strong desire to pitch in the NL and there was no way to compete with that. Wish him the best, obviously I’m sure us and other clubs would have loved to have had him but we’re going to move on.”

Did he believe Santana always wanted to pitch in the National League?

“I think you’d have to ask them,” Anthopoulos said. “I was just told recently that he had a strong desire to pitch in the NL. It was on a one-year deal and that was where he wanted to be.”

Were you used in the process?

“No. No. That’s probably the only thing I’m going to say. No.”

Having gone as high as around $14 million for one year, did he think he could have signed Santana if he had upped the value of the one-year offer?

“No,” he said. “From what I understand it was nothing to do with money or years or anything like that at all. Strictly, the National League is where he wanted to be. That was the only thing and there was no way to compete with that from what I was told.”

There’s no denying the fact that the players were all looking forward to Santana’s addition when the initial reports last weekend suggested it was between the Jays and the Orioles and a quick decision was going to be made. But when it dragged out and then the Braves pitchers came up hurting, that was all she wrote.

“Obviously we all wanted to have the player here, I think that goes without saying, but I think they’re as comfortable as they can be in terms of the club’s involvement and their involvement and the process overall,” Anthopoulos said about the feeling in the clubhouse. “I think we all feel we did everything we could. As you guys know, very rarely do things leak with us unless they’re pretty much done.

“We’re in rumours all the time but you never see a ton of stuff on us unless we’re right there. That’s just generally speaking. I think everyone, the players involved in the process that have relationships with him and from our standpoint, we’re very comfortable we did everything we could.”

But did he think it was a done deal last Saturday?

“I don’t think I’ve ever come out and said that. In fairness, I don’t know that I want to characterize the discussions or the negotiations. Obviously it’s done, he made his decision, he’s in Atlanta. Great signing for them, I wish him the best and sorry it didn’t work out with us.”

Why not be more forthcoming about how it all went down?

“You know what, I want to be respectful of everybody. Like I said, I wish him the best, I would have loved to have had him, I know a lot of our players would have loved to have him. I think it’s pretty obvious we were involved, it didn’t work out, I’m trying to take the high road here.”

Blue Jays GM says Santana's move out of his control

This campaign, the Blue Jays season had stolen a page from U.S. President Barack Obama’s playbook — it was all about hope and change.

Upon the not-so-startling news that free agent right-hander Ervin Santana decided to sign on with the Atlanta Braves, hope flew out the door.

Would Santana have nailed down a post-season berth?

No, but he would have helped.

Alex Anthopoulos, the Blue Jays general manager, will get whipped in the court of public opinion for this fumble along with the boys running Rogers who decided to sit on their wallets this off-season after last year’s big payroll bump landed the team in last place.